The mantra has been intoned by John Boehner, Paul Ryan, Mitch
McConnell, Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist and many other party
eminences, and there is a certain logic to saying that the voters, by
giving Republicans the House, were asking for divided government.

But the claim to represent the voters’ will doesn’t add up.

The
final results from the November election were completed Friday, and
they show that Democratic candidates for the House outpolled Republicans
nationwide by nearly 1.4 million votes and more than a full percentage
point — a greater margin than the preliminary figures showed in
November. And that’s just the beginning of it: A new analysis finds that
even if Democratic congressional candidates won the popular vote by
seven percentage points nationwide, they still would not have gained
control of the House.

Why would that be? Redistricting of course:

In a very real sense, the Republican House majority is impervious to the
will of the electorate. Thanks in part to deft redistricting based on
the 2010 Census, House Republicans may be protected from the
vicissitudes of the voters for the next decade. For Obama and the
Democrats, this is an ominous development: The House Republican majority
is durable, and it isn’t necessarily sensitive to political pressure
and public opinion.

Gordon analyzed election results in state senate races and this was his conclusion: “Based on the numbers reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
adding up all votes cast in the Wisconsin State Senate races shows that
Democrats received 475,116 votes (50.5%), Republicans received 451,928
votes (48.1%), and others received 13,100 (1.4%), yet the Republicans
gain seats and take the majority in the Senate.”

"I
don't have any plans to ever run for a political office higher than
this one," Vos says. "I'm not using this position as a steppingstone to
run for Congress, to run for governor or became the state treasurer or
whatever. I care for the institution. I love the Legislature. I think
we should be the most powerful branch of government because we are the
most representative of the people. And I want to do everything I can to make my constituents proud back in Racine County."

What Vos really needs to say, to make it more accurate is, that they are most representative of the least amount of people.

"The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To
take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery
consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a
vote in the election of representatives is in this case." -Thomas Paine, First Principles of Government (1795)

Vote totals mean nothing. Democratic Assembly candidates in many Dane County and Milwaukee County did not face a republican challenger. A perfect example is Chris Taylor's district. She received 30,000 plus votes and there was not a republican on that ballot. Guess what that means?? Yep, 30,000 more democratic votes than republican. Add all those contests than did not have a republican challenger and you come up with 200,000 more votes. Not too hard to understand.

let's be real here, I can not help that there is a failure of leadership and depth in the republican party that allows seats to go unchallenged.

However, the fact that Chris Taylor was unchallenged means that she also received less votes than she would have had she had a challenger. many people do not vote down ticket, especially if there isnt a race.

While we are a fairly evenly divided state, there is no disputing that we are a center left state!

If you think these numbers are misleading, then maybe we can check those of the two statewide races - Senator Baldwin and President Obama.

The picture? That is Speaker Vos's wife. They are technically separated, although certainly still married. Hopefully she comes back to Wisconsin and helps him deal with his commitment issues. No matter how you look at the math it is apparent that this state is nearly equally divided. The folks in Madison should legislate accordingly. We will know within the next few weeks.

So let me get this straight. This post boasts how Dems turn out and win the popular vote. But the post that immediately preceded this one is just a bunch of cheap shots at electeds Capper has a beef with because he knows Dems would get whooped in the popular vote(referendum on cutting the CB)?

What is it Capper? In your impotent rage you're in conflict with yourself in back-to-back posts.

First thing is I wrote this not Capper, why is reading comprehension so hard for those on the right?

Secondly, i am not boasting that when dems turn out .....I am pointing out that we have a center left state thats all and everytime robin vos says the voters gave him a mandate he will be lying to you!

Sure Chris, you're the king of obscene and overheated rhetoric. Let's have the referendum, OK?

Winners of the popular vote are a hot topic of your blog. The people of MKE county will blow it away regardless of your accusation of redistricting gerrymandering, and your premise will be proven wrong. How will you claim gerrymandering tilted the vote of the people of MKE county?

The problem isnt the referendum, the problem is the Milwaukee referendum is mandatory thanks to a Madison politician.

How do you think the right would have taken it if the dems forced a referendum in Waukesha county? Heaven knows they cant really take care of themselves and need oversight(i am talking to you Kathy kickolaus). Yet because the dems believe in local control they stayed out of it.

So please do not have any pretense of local control being of importance to your party, we know what is important to you is big government republican control ...nothing else matters.

Most of the dire predictions about GOP dominance in cleverly redistricted federal and state seats assume a known and static electorate. If the Dems could get off their asses long enough to leave their latte' settings and venture out into rural communities/neighborhoods of low wage working families, with a sincere message of concern for their plight, all bets are off.

Badgercare, EITC, tech school funding, fair wages. These are bread and butter kitchen table issues that the average person cares more about than God, guns and gays.

But you can't be afraid of trailer parks or frozen pizzas. Especially while you're looking down your nose.

Besides, I can't go without my latte...Just kidding, Steve, I agree with you, not that Dems are all too busy looking down on others, but, I agree that if the Dems were to show true concern and to really publicize that idea it would work.